河南英语导游词大相国寺.doc

Grand Xiangguo Monastery
（大相国寺）
In the down of Kaifeng,there sits a complex of magnificent ancient buildings with wing halls flanking.It is right the Xiangguo Monastery,one of the top ten monasteries in China.Throngs of people from all corners at home or out of the country com to the Xiangguo Monastery for a visit since there are so many stories and folk legends with lots of mysteries exaggerated by novels or operas concerned with it through ages.
Built in the sixth year under the rein of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty (555 A.D).Xiangguo Monastery used to be one of the famous centers of Buddhism in ancient China with its original name----Janguo Monastery,was first built on the site of the residence of Prince Wuji ine Wei States.also call Xin Ling Jun,one of the four famous children during the Warring States.It was unfortunately destroyed in a war and never rebuilt until the years 701A.D,when a well-known monk named Huiyun came to Kaifeng and successfully collected a great deal of donations for the reconstruction of the monastery on the reasonable excuse that the original site of the monastery was full of Buddhist nimbus and that he had met the Maitreya Buddha in his dream.With the donations,the monastery was rebuilt and a new bronze Maitreya Buddha of six-meter high was enshrined in the Maitreya Hall.In order to commemorate and celebrate Emperor Li Dan’s Ascending the throne from the position of ‘xiangguo”,(the prime minister),the new emperor of Tang Dynasty renamnes the monastery’xiangguo”instead of the old name,’jiangguo”,hence the present name Xiangguo Monastery,which has already been used for over 1300 years.
The prime of the Xiangguo Monastery was during the Tang&Song period,when it became the top monastery of its kind in China in terms of its scale and magnificent constructions.Especially,the frescoes and sculptures done by two celebrated persons,Wu Daozi and Yang Huizhi made the Monastery far-famed even more in ancient China.It was enlarged and renovated several times in the Song Dynasty,with a total enrolling of more than a thousand monks and nuns,and an area of over 500 Chinese mu(about 33ha)including 64 branches under its jurisdiction.As an imperial monastery of the Northern Song Dynasty,the Xiangguo Monastery acted as not only a spot for Buddhism but also the site for imperial activities such as birthday celebration for the emperor,important festivals,or burning joss for something,even the ceremony to entitle the successful candidates in the imperial examination.Moreover,the emperors also gave honorable titles to the abbots or some other well-known monks of monastery if necessary.When the Jin Dynasty overthrew the Northern Song,the monastery was seriously destroyed by the Jin troops.From then on,the flourishing monastery was gradually doomed to evil-luck in the succedent dynasties as the Yuan,the Ming and Qing.Although it was repaired and renovated several times,yet frequent wars and natural disaster of floods stopped its revival.All the main constructions existent in the monastery today were built under the rein of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty,which appeared damaged and shabby by wars and floods in old China,The ancient monastery has been revived and become thriving through some large scaled repairs and renovations by the local government since liberation.Once again it has become one of the China’s key monasteries playing an important role not only in spreading our national culture including Buddhist,But also in the further development of tourism.
With some sense of holy and mystery kept in our minds,Let’s begin our visit to the monastery.The first architecture of the monastery is its south entrance gate.Four big Chinese characters for the monastery’s name written by Zhao Puchu,The previous chairman of China’s Buddhism Association are on the arched front entrance gate.Get in the entrance,and two similar,symmetrical buildings standing on both sides will come into your sight.They are the drum tower and the bell tower,which used to the function as clocks to announce the hour in ancient times.Which is worthwhile to mention here is the jow from the Grand Xiangguo Monastery.It was so fascinating and charming for the elegant bell ringing that it could reach so far away in a foggy day in particular that the whole city was covered in its vigorous sound.It was really a mystery to the monastery.Walking down the axis,you’ll see the first main hall,call Maitreya Buddha Hall.As soon as you leg in the hall,the first impression to you is the mercy smiling Buddha from ear to ear,he is sitting on the lotus pedestal cross-legged with his big belly exposed.It is said the smiling Buddha is one of the incarnations of Maitreya Buddha,who is regard as the Buddha for the Future,that is the successor of Buddha Sakyamuni.He will come to be in control of the world in about 240000,000 years.On both sides of the shrine,there is a pair of vertical tablets,which says:’The smiling face is always laughing at the ridiculous persons in the world;the big belly could just bear all unbearable things under heaven.Besides,four heavenly kings are standing disposedly on both sides of the hall,each holding a magic weapon in his hands.They were said to be guards of Buddha halls.There is another general-like figure,called Skanda(or Weituo known in China)standing at the back of the Maitreya(Mi Le) Buddha and facing the Hall of Mahavira(the Great Hero).He is the god for guarding Buddhist Dharma.It is said,one some demons stole Sakyamuni’s sarira(relic,like the burned bones or other special remains).Skanda rushed after the demons and bravely fought against them and defeated them in the end taking back the missing relic no sooner than he heard the news.From then on,the relic of Sakyamuti was under his protection.
M oving out the Maitreya Hall,you see a magnificent hall,named “Mahavira Hall”,where Sakyamuni Buddha( founder of the Buddhism)id enshrined.It is about 13meters high,double caved,which carved marble fence around,known as ‘No.One Buddhist Hall in Central China’.There are three statues of Buddha in the hall,in the middle of which,is Buddha Sakyamuni who is regarded as the Buddha of the present world.On the left side of the chief Buddha is the Pharmacist Buddha,who lives in the Eastern Glazed World and has pledged to cure all patients in his world.On the right sits Buddha Amitabha,who is the ruler of the Western Elysium(Paradise).The three Buddhas are signs of the three different worlds,which are existent at the same time.
The third one is the Hall of Arhats.As it is shaped in octagon with a glazed roof in green,so it is also called’Octagonal Glazed Hall’,Being really unique in ancient architecture,it appears all rounding with an octagonal corridor going around an octagonal pavilion in the middle.Along the corridor,500 arhats in various forms and postures are placed around a big wooden statue,which is called’Avalokitesvara or Goddess of Mercy with Over a Thousand Hands and Eyes’.It is a four-faced and four-bodies sculpture measuring 6.6meters in height,carved out of one trunk of gingko tree by an unknown artisan in Qing Dynasty,who was believed to devote all his life on the work of carving.It has six big hands and over 200 small hands on each side with an eye on each hand,altogether 1048 hands and eyes,hence the name of statue,’Goddess of Mercy with a Thousand Hands and a Thousand eyes;.How did the idea of making such a statue come out ?Here is a legend story as below:Once upon a time,there were a wise king,who become seriously sick,while the enemy state was taking advantage to make an attack to his country.So both the king and his people were worried.One day,a celestial doctor came by and was asked to diagnose and cure the disease for the king.But the celestial doctor said there was no medicine for the king’s sick,but a special pill made of a hand and an eye of his kinsmen by blood.However the king had three daughters.He had to call them in and asked for what to do.The big daughter said,’I’ve just give birth to my baby.If I had lost a hand and an eye,who would take care of my baby’?While the second daughter said,”I’m newly married.If I had only one hand and one eye,how could I be with my honey husband’?It seemed both of his two elder daughters refused to donate their own hand and eye for their king father.At this critical moment,his youngest daughter said that she was still young and had noting worried,and that she was pleased to help her father.So she cut down one of her arms and gouged out one of her eyes without hesitation.The king was thus cure and won many wars for his country but his youngest daughter lost an arm and an eye.The behavior of the kind young girl soon became widely known and praised by people.Before long the news was brought to the ears of the Buddha,who was great moved by the mercy girl and said,That’s the real filial moral that we sparkplug.I would return her both hands and eyes,and build a statue of her body also,thus,to let people follow and worship”.Later on the Buddha entitled the girl”Goddess of Mercy with Both hands and Both eyes” so that the kind girl could help more people,and issues an order to make a statue of her with both hands and both eyes”which mean“全手全眼”in Chinese.But its Chinese pronunciation is pretty similar to “千手千眼”meaning “a thousand hands and a thousand eyes”,and the order passer just mistook the former for the latter.Therefor the statue of Goddess of Mercy with “one thousand hands and one thousand eyes”was make enough troubles to the one we see before us.The woozy crier did make enough troubles to the statues has been the only treasure of its kind in the world anyway.
The last view in the monastery is the two---storeyed building,call”scripture--keeping tower”as it worked for storing Buddhist scriptures in the ancient times.But today,a fine jade-carves statue of Sakyamuni is also enshrined in the ground hall of the building.It was donated by an overseas Chinese,also a Buddhist from Burma.
To the west of the Scripture--keeping Tower,id a wing building,named the Hall for the Great,where a bronze statue of Kong-hai,a Japanese monk,is arranged.He was born in 744 and learned Buddhism over ten years both in xian and Kaifeng.He came to the Xiaomgguo Monastery,and studied Buddhism from the abbot for some time in Tang Dynasty.For commemorating his merit,some Japanese donated the statue to China and placed it in this monastery,which has been regarded as the mark of friendship between China and Japan.Today,the ancient Monastery has met another prosperous time in its history.More and more people from home and abroad come to the well-known monastery not only for visiting,but also for praying,as well as for participating in Buddhist activities.